2. History. — ^The science of Catechetics, as such, can hardly be said to have taken its rise until after the Reformation. But as the necessities of the case gave
* rise to oral instruction in Christianity fh>m the very I beginning', and to the subsequent development of thb { instruction into a systematic branch of Church activity, j we find indications of Catechetics at all periods.
(1.) Before the Reformation. — ^The first teadiing of . Christ and his apostles was necessarily oral, and partly I homiletical, partly catechetical. But we find no men- tion in the N. T. of catechists as Churdi f^inctionariea. In the second century we find mention of catechists and catechumens (e. g. in the Clementines, q. v.). Un- der the catechetical system of the fourth century, the catechumens were taught the Ten Commandments, a creed, or summary confession of faith, and the Lord*s Prayer, with suitable expositions ; but, prior to bap- tism, the nature of the sacraments was carefUly con- cealed. SeeABCAiaDisciPLiHA;CATB0Ri7MKN. The Apostolical Constitutions (q. v.) not only mention the
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CATECHETICS
etteehnmens, bnt fix three yean as the period of in- straction (viii, 82). See Alexakdria; Antioch (Schools op). In Gregory of Njssa's (f 894) \6yog mTtix>rruc6c 6 fUyac (e<L Kimbinger, Monac. 1885), and in Cfini. of Jerusalem's (f 886) Kartyx^aetc (Catecheti- cal diicoorsee), we find catechetical instraction for both proeelTtee and newlj'-baptized persons. Augustine wrote a tract, De CatechmmdU nuUlnu (opp. ed. Bentd, t Ti). After the Church had become established, and its increase was obtained by the birth and baptism of chUdren rather than by conversions from heathendom, the idea of catechetical instruction passed fh>m being that of a preparation for baptism to being that of a cnl- tore of baptized chfldren. When confirmation became general, catechetidal instruction began to bear the same relation to it that it had formerly done to baptism. In the missions to heathens, in the Middle Age, it became usual to baptize converts at once, and the ancient cate- cfaamenate fell into disuse. Nor was great attention given to the catechizing of baptized children in the Boman Church up to the time of the Reformation ; the confessional took the place of the Catechism. See Catechisii. The names of Bruno, bishop of W&rz- burg (11th oentnry), Hugo de St Victore, Otto of Bamberg, and John Oerson, are to be mentioned as active in restoring catechetical instruction. The Wal- denses, Wicliffites, and other reforming sects gave at- tention to the subject. On the Waldensian Catechism, see Zezschwitz, Kateekitmen der Waldenter und Bdhm, Bnder (Erlangen, 1868) ; JaMOcherfUr deuUdie Th6- ologie, ix, 2, 885.
(2.) Since ihe Jie/ormaiion,-^AB the Reformation was a revival of religion for the human intellect as well as for the heart, it naturally followed that the training of cliildren soon came to demand new methods, or the nstMation of old methods, of grounding them in the fiuth. Luther was the fother of modem catechetics, both by the Catechisms (q. v.) which he hhnself pre- pared, and by the writings in which he explained Cate- chetics and gave an impulse to their pursuit. The principal points of Luther's Catechisms are the Deca- logue, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacra- ments (1529). Luther, with true insight, however, taught that catechtzation should not merely include the hearing of a recitation from the book, but also an explanation and an iq[)plication of it to the hearts of the pupils (see prefaces to his larger and smaller Cate- chkms, and also BrQstlein, Luther^a Einjkus <n{f dot VoUe$$chihoe9m, etc, Jena, 1862). Calvin also pub- lished Catechisms (1586, 1541), and in the preface to the Cateckitmtu Eccle». Genevemm he gave his views of the nature and design of Catechbms and of catechet- ical mstruction at length. He defines the Catechism to be** formula erudiendi pueros in doctrina Christi" (Aogusti, CoiTNct. Ziftror. i9ym5o£icor. p. 460-464). The Reformed churches generally followed : e. g. the Hei- delberg Catechism (1568) for the German Reformed ; the Church of England Catechism (1558, 1572), etc The Helvetic Confession (brems et timpikx) makes catechiza- tion a duty ofpoeitive obligation in the Church: **. . . pastores, qui juventutem mature et diligenter cate- ehisant, prima fidei ftmdamenta jacientes, explicando Deealogum mandatorum Dei, Symbolum item Aposto- lorum, Orationem quoqoe Dominicam, et Sacramento-
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(Aogusti, Lib, Sgrnb. 532 sq.), and the article Cate- CHWM. In Germany, after the fervor of the Reforma- tion period had passed, and the scholastic theologians '>IgDed,tbe catechetical instruction degenerated into a mere formal routine of preparation for confirmation, nd the same thing happened in the Church of Eng- land. Indeed, this result appears to be inevitable where baptismal regeneration is believed, and confirm ■•tion is made to follow as a matter of course. Spe- Mr and the Ptetists gave new life to catechetical in-
struction by connecting it with spiritual teaching and lifo (see Hurst, Hiatory of HationaHm, p. 90; ThUe^ Spener al$ Katecket, BerL 1840). The Church of Rome was compelled to follow the Reformers in catechetical instruction; the Caiechiunui Jiomanu* (1566) became the basis of numerous Catechisms— those of Canisius, Bellarmin, Bossuet, and Fleuiy attaining the widest circulation. As any bishop can authorize a Catechism for his diocese, the Romanists have now a great varie- ty, and they are still increasing (see Thooiogiiche QmrU a^An/V,1868,p.443).
The theoiy of catechization in the Protestant Church grew up gradually from the germs in Lu^ ther's teaching^ through the period of decay and diy scholasticism, and finally shot up into full bloom in Pietism. Its principles are, 1. That the Catechism of the Church, stamped with its authority, shall be used in instruction ; 2. That the instruction is not Socratic, i. e. does not aim to draw out what is in the mind of the pupil, but rather to convey revealed truth to the mind in a way which it can appreciate and under- stand ; 8. That while the pupil is to learn the words of the Catechism by heart, the teacher is to explain and illustrate them from the Bible, and to enforce them on the heart and conscience of the catechumen— L e. cate- chization is to be not merely didactic, but practicaL It is farther well settied that the Catechism of each particular church should be taught to the children of that church (1) by parents or guardians in the family; (2) by the Sunday-school teacher, who should always be a constant catechist ; and (8) by the pastor, whose catechization should not only be a test of the proficien- cy of the children under home and Sunday-school in- struction, but should include exhortation, illustration, and application also. It was one of Spener's glories that he introduced public catechization ; and the pas- tor who fails, at fixed times, to catechize the children in presence of the congregation, loses one of the most important means of Christian culture within the sphere of Church life.